Stay
by Aki and Tenshi
Summary: Literati... Rory stayed, Jess waited, and now they are ready to be together, but is everyone else ready for them to be together?
1. Chapter 1: Stay

**Aki- **Okay, timeline, this is a different ending to whatever the name of th episode is in season six when Rory goes to Philly to see Jess at Trucheon books. It starts right as she is walking out the door...**

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**Stay**

"Don't."

Rory paused at the sound of his voice as she was halfway out of the door. She turned her head barely, catching sight of him in the corner of her eye.

"What?" she asked quietly.

"Don't go back to him," Jess said firmly.

She turned around fully now, to face him. She leaned against the doorpost and crossed her arms just below her chest. "What?" she repeated, her voice stronger.

Jess took a few steps closer to her from where he was standing across the room but still remained a measurable distance from her.

"Don't go back to him, Rory. Stay here….stay with me."

"Jess…" she said sadly, avoiding his piercing eyes by staring at a spot on the rug a few feet from where she stood.

"Come on, Rory," he said, his voice desperate now. "Don't go. You don't deserve him doing all this shit to you. I- I don't deserve you doing this to me…"

Rory looked up at him. "I already said I'm sorry-"

"That's not want I want to hear!" Jess snapped angrily.

Rory was stunned silent by his display of aggression.

"Look," said Jess, taking a tentative step forward, intentionally calming himself down. "He has done worst to you than I ever did. Than I ever would… Why are you running back to him again?"

"Because I love-"

"Don't say it's because you love him," Jess interrupted. "I can tell from your eyes it's a lie… You've never been a very good liar."

Rory averted her eyes from his again and instead stared at the far wall. She sighed sadly, blinking back tears. "I have to go back," she croaked.

Jess took another step towards her, "Then at least tell me why."

"Why what?" she questioned, turning her face back to him, eyes glistening, cheeks flushed in anger.

"Why you are choosing him when I am giving you a way out."

"You broke my heart," she stated easily, a touch of anger in her tone.

"So did he," Jess reasoned.

"That's not the point," Rory argued.

"Yes it is! What can he give you that I can't! I love you, I never stopped loving you. You're the only girl I think about. You think he loves you, but he hurts you over and over again. Why do you go back to him when you know he will do this? When you know he will cheat on you again?!"

"Because I expect that!" Rory screamed, the words flowing from her mouth before she could halt them. The phrase hung between the two of them for a wordless moment.

Rory dropped her arms to her side and hung her head, ashamed. Jess was confused.

"What do you mean?"

Rory raised her head and look so intently at Jess it almost unnerved him. All anger had dissipated from her being. Her crystal blue eyes welled with long controlled tears and her expression was utterly one of despair.

"You broke my heart and despite _everyone's_ warning, even my own mother's cautions, I never expected it. Not from you," she paused for a brief second to regain her thoughts. She shrugged half-heartedly, "Maybe it was because I was so naïve or because I was so love struck... I'm more realistic now. Logan's a little rich playboy and he's always going to be that. He won't change despite how much I wish he would."

Jess didn't know what to say at the moment. He looked at Rory with interest. He had seen her from many things today. He saw her as the woman of his dreams finally coming back to him until she shattered this idealistic image as she pulled away from his kiss and nearly made him hate her, but as he observed her now she was so, so…real.

"…Then why are you going back to him…?"

She shook her head as to say, 'Don't you get it,' but answered. "I've seen the world, Jess. It's not beautiful, it's not perfect, it's not happy, and it's, and remember this, not honest. If I…if I ever got back together with you I know that little naïve piece of me would take over and want to stupidly trust you not to hurt me when I learned along time ago that you can't expect that from _anyone_. At least with Logan I know what to expect."

"Are you really that jaded to go willingly back into a relationship in which you expect to get hurt? That's crazy."

"It numbs the pain when you expect it… It's better than being caught by surprise!"

"No, I can't believe that. I think it would hurt even more because accepting that you are going to be hurt makes you feel pain everyday. Be free, Rory, be free of him, and this… You're destroying yourself. You're letting him destroy you," Jess half pleaded, half reasoned.

"What is it to you anyway?!" Rory shouted. "What is it to you what I do with my life?"

"I care, Rory. I care because I love you," Jess replied loudly, honestly.

"You don't love me," she retorted low and harsh.

"Yes, I do," affirmed Jess, staring her in the eyes for reassurance. He was finally close enough her to touch her. He reached out and let his fingertips brush the side of her arm just above her elbow. She pulled away from his touch.

"No," she said darkly. "You loved Rory Gilmore of Stars Hollow. Innocent and perfect with the whole world at her fingertips. Not hateful me. Not I who am in a self-destructive relationship and lost my virginity to a married man and doesn't trust the world anymore. I have lost all hope."

Jess was unperturbed by her proclamation. He could tell as the clouds left her eyes and the first tears ran unnoticed and unbidden down her flush cheeks that as she said all this aloud it was for the first time although it had been in the deepest and most desperate part of her heart for a long time now. As she let it out, she was letting go and giving in at the same time. She was revealing everything she saw wrong to herself and to him.

"Last time I checked…" he said slowly, just above a whisper as he closed the diminishing gap between them. He tucked a wayward strand of her dark hair which had attached itself to her damp cheek behind her ear. "They were the same person."

Rory had titled her head up, unable to break her gaze with those dark brown eyes. Jess cupped her face lightly with his calloused hands, titled her head even more before planted a soft, tender kiss onto her lips.

Rory closed her eyes and refused to let herself to think. To think that this was Jess, her ex-boyfriend, or that fact that she had another boyfriend. Instead she let herself be absorbed in the moment and the simple, chaste kiss that she somehow found hard to associate with Jess.

After a moment, or maybe a million moments, Rory wasn't sure for she had lost all sense of time, Jess pulled away.

Rory opened her eyes reluctantly, not wanting to abandon her euphoria of nothingness, but when she did Jess was standing there, a barely visible smile on his lips. One you only have noticed if you had know him well or were standing as uncomfortably close to him both of which applied to Rory.

"They're the same?" she asked, her voice a whisper.

"Mm Hm," He answered with a nod, as he wiped her tears away with a thumb of one of his hands that still remained lightly on her face. "We just got to teach you to believe again."

"We?" questioned Rory, brow furrowing, confused.

"If you'll let me…"

Rory turned away from Jess's touch and step back a pace as though she was undeserving of his affections. "Please," she begged, "Don't make this harder then it already is…"

Jess' eyes narrowed as if he couldn't believe that she was doing this…

"Rory," he said, stepping toward, she backed up. He stopped, looking a hurt. "If you turn around and walk out that door you are giving up your one chance to start over. To be happy again, you deserve that much."

She shook her head. "Look at your life, Jess," said Rory, motioning around the Truncheon Book store showroom. "You're living the dream here. You deserve to be with someone who has not given up on life."

"Rory, without you none of this would have ever happened. You not only made me believe that I could do something more with my life. You convinced that I _had_ to do something more. You may think you have lost all hope, but you are the most hopeful person I ever knew. You haven't lost yourself completely, not yet."

"How do you know?" she asked, voice shaking.

"Because you're still here."

Rory cocked her head to the side, puzzled. "What does that prove?"

"It proves that you had enough hope to wait and hear me out because I might have the answer to save you from your misery, even if you didn't consciously realize that's why you did," Jess answered, cautiously shifting forward and gauging her reaction. She didn't budge, so he took a full step towards her.

"I'm ready," Jess continued talking, knowing with every reassuring word he spoke the more and the more Rory wanted to stay. "You know I am. That's not what you're scared of. You are scared that you, for once in your life, are not ready. But you are, Rory, you are. Look at your life. You made up with your Mom, remember? Moved out of your grandparent's house, got a job, and went back to Yale. And you're probably doing a double a load of work to catch up if I know you correctly…"

Rory blushed but nodded in agreement to his assessment.

"See, I'm ready, and you are more ready than you think… you fell, but you fixed your life up."

"Only because you told me to."

"I just gave you a shove in the right direction. You did it yourself."

"But," Rory paused as if a surprisingly realization had come to her and spoke to herself more than Jess, "I couldn't have done it without you." She looked at Jess, eyes wide in an amazed way that reflected a younger version of herself in them.

"Not too long ago I said the same thing to you… We need each other."

"But…" she protested as Jess saw the doubt pour back into her features.

"Rory, I want to be with you. I fear a part of me always will, but if you leave now… I can't hold on forever. You can't ask that of me."

Rory looked up at him, suddenly her face was decided, her eyes showing the strength she had had inside all along. "I never would," she assured him.

He closed his eyes and remorse coursed through his veins. This was it, he assumed, she was leaving. She was letting him go when he couldn't let her go.

His eyes shot open as he felt her fingertips on his cheek. She was close to him, much too close for this to be a farewell.

"I never would," she repeated, her voice wavering. "Because you'll never need to." A new tear rolled down her already mascara smeared face. She did not attempt to wipe it away, neither did Jess. It was a happy tear.

"You mean…" he couldn't finished. Rory nodded with a small smile. He looked at her. She was still weak, she was still scared, but she was trying and at the moment that was all he was asking of her.

"Now, I'm much too emotional to drive, can I stay here tonight?"

"I'll make you a bed on the couch," replied Jess with one of his own rare smiles, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her away from the door into the interior of the building.

"And coffee?" she asked, yes, hopefully.

"Of course." Right now Jess would give her anything she asked for, just because she stayed.

* * *

**Aki- **Inspiration strikes in weird places. Earlier today when I was swinging (on the swingset in my backyard, which I pretty much do daily, I kow it's weird, but I am not getting into that write now) this came to me and I ended up writing down and expanding it and decided to upload it. Right now this is a one-shot but this could, in the far future mind you, I am way to busy with two other fanfics at the moment to start another, become the first chapter of a longer story, but again, not for a while... pleeze review! 


	2. Chapter 2: Wait

**Wait**

Her cell phone was buzzing annoyingly in a way that warned her of a text message. She squinted through the early morning light, flailing an arm out in search to find her cell where she usually put it on her bed side table. This only resulted in her being overbalanced falling onto the floor with an 'umph.'

She glared at the couch she had just rolled off as if it where its fault before remembering she usually didn't sleep on a couch. She glanced around the unfamiliar room as her tired mind slowly reminded her of the events of last night. She smiled at the thought and leaned against the couch, pulling her tangled blanket around her tighter.

Her phone buzzed again, reminding her of what had caused her unceremonious collapse onto the floor. She dug her cell out of her purse and flipped it open. She noted that it was much later in the morning then she usually slept before clicking to her messages.

"Where R U???" read one of many, many others, all from the same person, Logan. She rolled her eyes and threw her cell phone back into her open purse.

"I see you're up."

Rory located the source of the voice as Jess entered the room, carrying a mug of fresh, hot coffee.

"You could say that," answered Rory, with a small smile, staring up at him from her position on the floor.

He sat down next to here. "Here," he said handing her the coffee.

"My hero!" she joked before taking a slow sip.

They sat in silence as Rory drank her coffee, Jess watching her. After five minutes she set it down next to her and turned to him.

"What?" she asked him, referring to his staring.

"Nothing," he replied as he reached out and tucked tangled hair behind Rory's ear. He was so close to her she could feel his body heat through her blanket and clothes, she could smell the mixed scent of his cologne and hair gel, and she could see the flecks of gold in his dark brown eyes.

He was even closer, leaning in for what Rory presumed was a kiss. She wanted to too, but she couldn't… Almost subconsciously she lifted a hand and placed her fingertips just barely on his mouth, staying him.

"Wait," she whispered.

Doubt clouded his features as he wondered what he did wrong.

"It's not you," she quickly reassured, letting her fingers linger a moment longer then necessary on Jess' lips. "And I'm not going back on what I said last night either."

"Then what?" asked Jess, not accusatory, but curious, sitting, regretfully, back farther from her again.

"I just need you to wait," she said, eyes pleading.

"For what?" he asked.

She leaned her head, almost wearily, back against the couch cushion. "Because I still have a boyfriend," she said, almost whining, to the ceiling.

"Right," came his quick, almost cold, reply.

"Don't be mad," she said, turning to him. He didn't meet her eyes.

"I'm not," he answered her, his voice was a little rough. He still was avoiding eye contact. He was thinking things over. He was coming to terms with the reality that Logan hadn't magically disappeared after last night.

"Jess…" She reached out and touched his arm, causing him to look back at her. Her expression was concerned, and sincere.

"I'm not mad," he tried to reassure her.

"I just can't…" she trailed off. She didn't want to get involved in another 'affair.' She didn't want to do the thing she came here to do, cheat on Logan with Jess, because that had been with an vindictive motive, but this, them, now... it was all different.

"It's okay… I understand."

"Thanks," she whispered in reply, wrapping her arms around Jess in a hug. He buried his face in her hair and she let her check rest against his warm neck.

"How long?" he questioned in a husky whisper.

"Not long," she answered, pulling back from their embrace.

"Promise?"

"Promise," she repeated with a small smile.

He got to his feet and helped her to hers. She collected her personal items that had made a surprising spread about the room (purse by the coach, coat over by the door, hairbrush in the bathroom…).

"Hope I didn't disturb the guys," she said, half a question, half an apology.

"No, they were just a little surprised that I had a girl up here…"

"Right."

"So…" began Rory, trying to break the awkward silence.

"So…" repeated Jess.

"Well, um, I guess I should get going."

"Yeah."

"See ya'" she farewelled, planting a kiss on Jess' cheek before exiting the apartment.

"See you," he muttered at the closed door. He plopped down on the couch. He hated waiting.

…

"Ace, where have you been?"

She sighed. She was barely in the apartment door, and he was already standing, anticipating her answer with concerned and a touch of anger on his face. "I called you like a million times."

"I just spent the night out, that's all. And you, why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be in Nicaragua or something?"

"Finn had a problem with his passport, the idiot. But because we were already in the city, we had a day and night on the town instead of going."

"Well thanks for informing me that you never left the country and was coming back early," she said with dark sarcasm in her tone.

"Why are you mad at me? You're the one not picking up my calls."

"I was out. I'm allowed to go out," Rory snapped back.

"I was worried about you, I mean you weren't at your mom's-"

"You called my mom's?" she repeated exasperatedly.

"And you weren't with Paris-"

"You called Paris?!" She sighed and collapsed onto the couch.

"Where were you?" he repeated.

"What's the big deal? It's not like you ever tell me were you are going to be…"

"Calm down. I just wanted to know."

Rory sighed again and ran her fingers unsuccessfully through her knotted hair. "I can't believe we are even fighting about this."

"Me too," agreed Logan.

"That's not what I'm mad about," she continued.

"What?" asked Logan confused, thinking their fight was over.

"And I'm not really mad at you, I'm mad at the," she paused in search for a word, "Situation."

"What are you talking about, Ace?" Logan asked, kneeling next to where she sat.

"I'm talking about the fact-," her voice cracked, she hadn't figured it would be this hard, she could barely hold back tears. "That I can't be Logan Huntzberger's girlfriend anymore."

"What?" He was stunned.

"I'm so sorry," she professed. "And I know this is sudden-"

"Think about this for a minute."

"I have thought about it," she protested. "I've done all the thinking I need."

"Then… at least tell me why," he asked. His face was so sad, Rory could hardly handle it. She was slightly surprised that he hadn't protested more to her sudden declaration of a break up. Maybe he knew he already got his second chance a lost it or maybe he knew her too well to fight her when she had that spark of determination in her eyes.

"It's the fact that… you never apologized for yelling at me the night we 'broke up.' That I hadn't known we had broken up. The fact that you didn't think it would matter how many of your sister's friends you slept with when we were apart and let me unknowingly swept into their fold…" She paused, considering, "And it's not just you. It's the fact that I'm staying with you for the completely wrong reasons and neither of us deserves that."

"Ace… please," he said in one last desperate attempt.

"I'm sorry," she repeated in a whisper. "I'm going to pack some of my stuff now and I'll get the rest of my stuff next week, if that's okay with you…"

"That's fine," he replied in a sad whisper.

She went about the room collecting several of her most important things ( her laptop, several changes of clothes, her best books…) and stuffed them into a overnight bag.

"Was it another guy?" he asked as she reentered the living room of the apartment they once shared.

'He'd ask that,' she thought to herself before answering, "Yes and no." It was the best explanation she could come up with Jess pointing out to her the things she knew all along.

"Just- Just make sure he treats you right, okay?"

Rory smiled. It was probably the sweetest possible thing he could have said at the moment.

"Logan," she said, taking a few steps toward him, making him look up and meet her eyes. He looked... tired. "I never stopped caring about you and if ever need a friend. I'll always be there…" He nodded in understanding, eyes now averted from her again.

She reached out and touched the side of his face lightly. His eyes flashed back at to meet hers. "One day, once you've grown up a little bit more, you are going to make some girl very lucky to be with you."

She turned from him and walked towards the door and reached toward the doorknob, but a voice interrupted her.

"I always thought that girl would be you…"

She stopped and looked over her shoulder and answered him, "For a while, so did I."

She left. That much she had expected and was prepared for, but she hadn't expected crying as she drove away.

…

It had been two days since she broke up with Logan and was sitting on the couch in Paris' apartment, wallowing. It was harder then she expected, but she couldn't help it. She _had_ loved him and he had loved her, or the most he could with his understanding of love. He had been her boyfriend for a long time, they had lived together.

But wallowing wasn't worth it anymore…

She had concentrated so much on being sad she forgot about the one thing that started all this mess that made her happy.

She picked up her phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello," said the voice on the other line.

"You don't have to wait any longer."

"Rory?"

"Who else?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" quipped the voice across the line.

"I'm ready," she professed, ignoring his comment.

"And he's…?" he trailed off, leaving the comment hanging.

"He's no longer in the picture romantically."

"Okay…"

Neither spoke, neither needed to. The silence was enough.

She stayed, he waited… now they were ready.


	3. Chapter 3: Mom

**Mom**

"Hey Rory, what's up?" asked Lorelai over the phone.

"I'm okay…"  
"What is it?" Lorelai asked, concern flooding into her voice.

"I- I've moved back with Paris… Logan and I broke up," she answered hesitantly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? I didn't know you were having trouble," Lorelai immediately sympathized.

"No, I'm fine," retorted Rory, with a touch of humor on her voice because of her mother's instant concern. "It was like a week ago, and I broke up with him."

"Why?" asked Lorelai, not accusing, but curious.

"Because…sometimes you know even though you care for the guy, it's just not right. Like you and Max."

"I understand, but are sure you are okay? Breaking up with anybody can be hard."

"Trust me, Mom," Rory replied with a chuckle, "I'm fine. In fact, there is already someone new."

"That's fast."

"Well. I knew him before…" she trailed off, wishing she hadn't said anything.

"Rory," Lorelai said slowly, reprimanding her, but holding back a laugh. "Did you leave Logan for another boy?!"

"Sort of," Rory replied meekly.

"Sort of meaning yes," she teased.

"…maybe…"

Lorelai laughed over the phone. "It seems you always have guys trailing after you." She sighed, "To be young again."

"Mom!" Rory said, scandalized.

"Okay, so why the switch?"

"He made me realize what I knew all along."

"Which was…?"

"That I wasn't staying with Logan for the right reasons and that I was staying away from _him_ for the wrong reasons."

"Very philosophical. So is he cute?"

"Why's that important?" asked Rory, trying to sound indignant, but barely suppressing a laugh.

"Duh, cute grandkids."

Rory sighed in fake exasperation. "Yeah, he's pretty cute."

A snicker in the background, it came from neither Rory nor Lorelai.

"So am I gonna meet him?"

"Eventually."

"Oh, well I just mark that down on my calendar."

Rory rolled her eyes.

"See ya soon."

"Bye."

Arms wrapped around Rory's middle from behind after she hung up her cell phone.

"So when are you gonna tell her it's me," a teasing voice whispered in her ear.

"Eventually…" Rory drawled.

"Well, I'll go write that down on my calendar.

"Funny," commented Rory, leaning her head back on Jess' shoulder and looking up at him awkwardly. "That's what Mom said."

"Huh."

"I need coffee," Rory said around a yawn.

Jess raised his eyebrows, "Don't you always."

"Don't mock," she said, breaking away from Jess and going over to the mini kitchen to pour herself a mug of the java.

Jess sat down on the couch. "So, I'm cute?"

"Well," said Rory shrugging, "On your good days."

"Oh, man," said Jess, grabbing his chest where his heart would be, "Way to knock a man down a few pegs."

"But I like you anyway," said Rory, sitting down next to him.

"Well that's good news."

She leaned against his chest and sighed, "'M sleepy."

"Then why are you drinking coffee?" he teased in a serious tone.

"That's a moot point."

He kissed the top of her head, catching the hairspray and strawberry scent of her hair.

"Let's get you to bed than," he suggested.

"Too tired to move," she whined, leaning heavier against his chest as if he where an oversized pillow, dropping her already swiftly emptied coffee cup on the floor by the couch. "Sleep here."

"Oh, no you don't. You took a nap on me yesterday and I couldn't feel my legs by the time you where done."

"Please…" she whined, looking at Jess with wide, pitiful eyes, a look she had learned years ago that Jess couldn't resist.

"Fine," he muttered, "But next time you get play the mattress."

"Deal," mumbled Rory, although she didn't intend to keep her side the bargain, ever.

Jess situated himself more comfortably in the corner of the couch, between the back and the arm rest. Rory pulled herself more on top of him and snuggled deep against his chest.

"Night," she whispered.

"It's quarter after two in the afternoon," she replied smartly.

"Shh…" she told him without even opening her eyes.

Jess suppressed retort and instead watched Rory's peaceful, slumbering face. He knew he complained about it, but he couldn't help but love times like this. The times, whether in sleep, or watching television, or just sitting and reading together, when no words were needed between them. It just was and that worked for them. He wrapped his arms protectively around her, to keep her from rolling off before resting his chin of the top of her head and dosing off himself.

…

"Hi, Lorelai," commented Paris as the met each other going up the stairs to Paris's apartment. "Here to see, Rory?"

"Yeah, she's not expecting though. I had to drive here to deal with some urgent inn business with this group that is doing a wedding there and thought I'd stop by while I was in town."

"That's nice," replied Paris with out much caring in her tone as she unlocked the complicated door.

"Here we are," Paris said as she opened the door and walked determinedly through it. Lorelai followed, but stopped right inside. Rory was asleep on the couch on top of a boy that looked uncannily familiar.

"Oh my God!"

Paris stared at Lorelai as if she were nuts. That was until, Jess and Rory, having been so shocked into consciousness, feel in a tangled heap onto the floor in front of the couch.

"Mom?!" asked Rory, confused, getting clumsily up off the floor. Jess seemed more reluctant to do so. He stood partially behind Rory when he stood. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to surprise you," she said, her voice high as though almost hysterical, "But, boy, how the tables have turned!"

Paris, having determined what the shock was all about, asked in surprise, "You haven't told her?"

Rory ignored her. Jess said nothing. This was an 'a' 'b' conversation between Rory and Lorelai.

"Come on," said Rory, taking her mother outside the still open apartment door and closing it behind them as the stood in the hallway.

"Jess!" asked Lorelai, stunned. "Jess is your new boyfriend."

Rory sighed to herself. "Yes," she answered firmly.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because I know you'd react like this," Rory replied in exasperation.

"Okay," said Lorelai, trying to make herself calm down. "It's your life, but Jess? How did this happen?"

"Like I said on the phone, he made me realize what I knew all along."

"But he broke your heart," Lorelai reasoned.

"We're pretty even on that front now, Mom," Rory replied. Lorelai wasn't quit sure what that meant, but didn't prod.

"But is he good for you?" she asked skeptically.

"Was Logan good for me? How about Dean the second time around? It's not perfect, but…"

"But what?"

"He saved me."

"From what?"

"From myself." Lorelai looked quizzical at that response. So Rory explained. "Ever wonder what happened to make me come home, get a job, go back to Yale."

Lorelai looked phased at that question. "I just assumed that you just came to your senses."

"No, it was Jess. He came to visit. Do you know he works in a publishing house in Philly now? And he has a book published?"

"I think Luke mentioned it once."

"It was crazy. I mean, we were twenty-one and who would have thought back when we were seventeen that he'd be the one fixing my life."

"What are you talking about?" asked Lorelai perplexed.

"Jess," Rory said adamantly. "He was the one who showed me how bad my life at become. He made me question dropping out of Yale, and Logan, and everything my life was at that time. He saved me. He is good for me… and, I can't explain it, but I love him."

"Wow, um, Are- are you sure?"

"Mom," she said sincerely. "Sometime you just know."

"I guess you do… It's just going to take some getting used to."

* * *

Aki- Hey, hope you liked it. Anyway, who is sad about the season finale? Who is glad that Rory and Logan aren't getting married? Who wished that Jess would shpw up in the last episode? 


	4. Chapter 4: Think

**Think**

"Do you ever think about what would have happened if things had been different?"

"How so?"

"Like, if you had stayed or if I had run away with you when you asked me to. Do you think about how it would have been different?"

"I guess, sometimes. Back when we weren't together," he replied.

"If it was different, do you think we'd still be together?" she asked, laying back down onto her bed, phone held to her ear.

"Do you?" came Jess reply, knowing she had more to say on the subject than he did.

"Yes," she answered.

"Why?"

"Think about it. We broke up when we were seventeen and here we are twenty-one and back together. There's got to be something behind that."

"Do you mean fate?"

"Not necessarily, maybe just serendipity."

"That's a lame movie."

"No it's not and…you've seen it?"

"…No…"

"Don't lie."

"What's your point?" asked Jess, diverting the conversation back to its original course.

"That," said Rory, "Maybe 'us' isn't an accident. After everything we've been through we ended back with each other. There's just got to something else…Don't you think so?"

A silence over the phone, before Jess answered, "No."

"Oh, come on," complained Rory, assuming he was just disagreeing on the technicality that he didn't like to believe in destiny.

"Seriously, I don't."

"Than what do you believe?" asked Rory, still a bit annoyed.

"That…jeez, this already sounds cheesy in my head…"

"Just tell me," Rory whined.

"Okay," said Jess, resigned, "I think it's not _despite_ everything we've gone through and we ended up together that makes it fate or whatever. I think it is _because_ of everything we went through that we have ended up together."

"Explain."

"Well- I told you its cheesy- but everything we've been through, the break ups, all the life experience, has made us who we are today. And the people who are now together."

"That is a little cheesy."

"Told you."

"But I like it."

"Yeah?"

"It's like everything we have is because we deserve, we earn it."

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Do you think we'd be together right now if I hadn't gone out on a limb and asked you stay that night, or if you hadn't given me a chance when I was seventeen? I like knowing everything I have now is because I worked for it. Not because something somewhere decided it for me."

There was a reflective pause on the line. "How," began Rory softly, "How did you come up with that?"

Jess shrugged even though Rory couldn't see him. "Because I was tired of blaming everyone and everything else for the shit I was doing."

"And you wanted to control your own life."

"Exactly."

"But I still think there is something more."

"Huh?" said Jess, half in interest, half in exasperation because they had already been through this.

"Think about it-"

"I've had to do a lot of thinking this phone call."

"Shut up and listen," said Rory in irritation that really wasn't anger. "Life is like a whole tangle of events and cause and effect domino thing."

"Cause and effect domino thing?" Jess repeated, mockery in his tone. "I think you should really stop trying to be philosophical."

"Again, shut up."

Jess only smirk at his girlfriend's frustration with him. He was good at frustrating her.

"Just listen and try to follow. If you hadn't done god knows what to make your mother send you to Stars Hollow, I may have never met you. If we had never met, we wouldn't have become friends or boyfriend and girlfriend. If that hadn't have happened, we wouldn't have broken up and hurt each other, making us want to be better, find something more in our lives. Follow?"

"A bit."

"Now you said you couldn't have written _The Subsect_ without me."

"True."

"So if you had never written it, you wouldn't have come back to see me. And if you had never came back to see me, I would still be in my rut."

"And if I had never gotten you out of your rut," filled in Jess, trying to follow Rory's reasoning, "Than you would have never come and seen me at our open house. And if you hadn't come I wouldn't have asked you to stay and we wouldn't be together today."

"Correct," Rory agreed, a smile on her voice.

"Your point?"

Rory sighed exasperatedly over the phone. "My point is that even though everything we did, everything that we do gets us to where we are, to who we are, sometimes events are so interconnected that something, fate, destiny, serendipity, or just chance, had to be involved to make it all go the way it did."

"Is that like a compromise between our two views?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, well I hear that's what couples are supposed to do," Rory deadpanned.

"I don't know. I still believe its all freewill."

"Maybe it is, but we never have complete control over our lives. There is always someone else telling us what to do."

"Huh." This it was one of agreement. Rory had gotten good at judging Jess' tone of voice over the years. It was a rather important skill when trying to understand him because he usually had little to say, so she had to judge what he did say on his tone. Whether sad, sarcastic, anger, joking, honest, or sweet. It was one of his many quirks that she loved about him.

"I miss you," she said softly over the phone. He had only returned to Philadelphia two days ago, but it seemed so long ago from then.

"Me too."

"You miss yourself?" asked Rory in mock confusion.

"You know what I mean?" Jess growled under his breath, agitated. Rory grinned to herself in victory; she was good at agitating Jess.

"Can you come back next weekend," she asked, not caring if she sounded needy or clingy.

"We'll see."

"See now…" she whined, wanting him to promise that he would. Rory generally spoke enough for both of them, but Jess didn't see it as a bad thing. He loved her voice, it was so expressive. She got excited about little things, joked about almost everything, exaggerated most the time, was happy and laughed so openly that it was close to being unreal.

"We'll see," Jess repeated.

"You're no fun," Rory retorted. Jess could practically imagine her ticking her tongue out at him.

A silence on the phone. It wasn't awkward or out of place, it just was. They sat, listening to the other breathing, contemplating how much they did wish the other was with them right at the moment.

"Jess…?" asked Rory quietly.

"Huh?"

"Are you- happy?"

"What?" he asked, slightly confused.

"Are you happy?" she repeated a bit more firmly. "Just think about it."

He inhaled slowly. "Yes, I am."

"Good," she whispered back. "Me too."

* * *

Aki- In case you have not noticed, each other these chapters has a theme around it, and although the story progresses, I like to think that they could almost be alone. But not really. ANyway, for those of you wanted more chapters about Rory and Jess revealing thier realstionships to other people, don't worry, they are coming up... 


	5. Chapter 5: Town

**Town**

Jess groaned, "Do we have to?"

"Will you stop complaining?" said Rory, eyeing the boy in the passenger seat of her car warily.

"Why do we have to spend are very short weekend together in Star Hollow?"

"Because they are all so vested in my future that they need to know who I am dating and it is killing Mom that she has to keep this secret."

"…So…?"

"It'll be fun," Rory reassured.

"No, it won't," Jess retorted.

"Look, we're here," Rory said loudly, intentionally talking over Jess' response. He glared at her.

Jess sank low in his seat the farther they drove into town. A few people recognized Rory's car and waved.

"See," said Rory as if she were proving a point, "It's a very friendly town."

"To you, maybe. They hate me, especially me with you."

"Not true."

"Yes, it is."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Than why did you say it wasn't true?"

Rory shrugged. "Just trying to make you feel better."

Jess restricted the urge to role his eyes (he wasn't the eye rolling type of guy).

Rory pulled into a parking space in the town square, just about a block from Luke's Diner.

"Hungary?" asked Rory.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Jess replied sarcastically.

Rory just shook her head at her boyfriend and got out of the car. Jess followed her suit.

"Do we really have to go to Luke's first?" asked Jess.

"Yes, because he deserves to here abut us in person…Don't give me that look! It's your fault for not telling him."

"My fault?" he asked skeptically. "Your mother is marrying him."

"He's your uncle!"

"Step-dad closer than uncle."

"He's my step-dad elect, so no, uncle is closer."

"Step-dad elect?" questioned Jess with a raised, cocking eyebrow.

"Shut up."

"Oh, I didn't say anything."

"Well…keep it that way," Rory responded lamely. Jess just smirked at her attitude.

Rory silently reached out by her side and took Jess's hand in hers. He didn't resist, but intertwined their fingers. He loved her hands. So long and thin, with fingernails that she never painted because it was pointless to her. They were smooth in away that told of daily hand lotion use, but rough in places from holding a pencil or pen for many long years.

"We're attracting attention."

"I think it is because we are so hot," concluded Rory to Jess' statement.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Or because they are trying to figure out who the attractive young man is walking with their adorable Rory Gilmore."

"Trying to figure out?" Jess questioned. "They already know me."

"Yeah," Rory said, turning around and facing him. "But they probably can't recognize you with your leather jacket or your hair all gelled up," she finished tugging on the collar of his loose sports jacket he was wearing over a band t-shirt and old jeans.

"No?" he asked, teasing her.

She shook her head, as he pulled closer for a short kiss.

"They're really watching us now," Rory whispered to him.

"Huh…"

They walked to the door of Luke's Diner, hands once again held. The bell on the door rang as they entered, getting them the attention of the whole diner. Eyes followed them as they walked silently to the counter and sat on two empty stools by the register.

"Are they staring?" asked Jess in a whisper, hunched over, leaning on his elbows on the counter.

"Staring, glaring, whatever."

Luke walked out of the kitchen.

"Oh, hey Rory," he greeted her, having spotter her first. "Jess?"

"Hey, Uncle Luke," he answered.

Luke's eyes darted between them a few times. "Are you two- together?"

"Grammatically speaking, yes."

"Stop being a smartass."

Jess smirked.

"Yes, we are," Rory answered.

"How… when?"

"You were there that day actually," Jess commented.

Luke took a moment of thinking before asking, "At the open house in Philadelphia?"

Jess nodded, Rory smiled.

"What happened to, you know, the other one?" he asked Rory, referring to Logan.

"I'd rather not get into it, but we're over."

"Wow," said Luke, unable to think of anything else to say about Rory and Jess. "Does Lorelai know? She didn't say anything."

"Yeah, she found out last week. We asked her not to say anything yet."

"I'm assuming that this little display is too inform the town of such actions…?"

"Of course," quipped Rory.

"It will create a big controversy," Luke commented.

"Well, I always liked shaking things up a bit," Jess retorted.

"They'll probably have a meeting about it."

"I'd be disappointed if they didn't," said Rory with a grin.

"You are your mother's daughter," said Luke, shaking his head in an amused way.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Coffee?"

"To go."

"Jess?"

"I'm good."

"You know," said Luke, as he set a cup of coffee before Rory and waved her off as she tried to pay for it, "As soon as you leave they are all going to come and barrage me with questions and you know how I hate that. Can you answer settle some of their curiosities as whether you two are together or not before you leave."

"Yeah, no problem, Luke," said Jess in a much too cheery way that both Rory and Luke looked at him with confusion.

Jess stood from his stool, pulled Rory off hers, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a deep kiss, which she reciprocated.

Gasps and whispers filled the diner as the various patrons acted amused, scandalized, or excited, proving that they had all been paying sharp attention to the couple ever since they entered.

Some idiot whooped at them from the corner and they broke apart, however, reluctantly, and almost out of the necessity to breath.

"Wow," whispered Rory, out of breath.

"Huh, I made a Gilmore girl speechless, quite impressive.

"I've done it before," said Luke from the side, not looking to entirely pleased at their public display of affection.

"Dirty," commented Rory with a small laugh.

"You _are_ you mother's daughter," Luke repeated in exasperation.

"I'll take that as a compliment too."

"So, Uncle Luke, we must be going. I hope you answered some of these nut jobs' questions so they don't ask you about it," said Jess, voice layered with sarcasm.

"You didn't help at all," Luke growled under his breath, eyes narrowing.

"Glad to be of service," Jess farewelled, before wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's, who was drinking her coffee, waist and walking out of the diner.

All eyes followed them out the door and through the glass window until they disappeared from view.

Whispers, which were no longer at the volume level to be considered whispers broke out anew and the closest thing that be could consider pandemonium in Stars Hollow occurred within the restaurant.

Some cell phones were being covertly used, such as Barbette who was calling Miss Patty, who had sadly missed this incident because she was busy teaching dance at the moment, or Kirk calling Taylor to inform him the town on-goings in case he hadn't seen it through the window to the ice cream shop.

Luke couldn't help but let a small grin grace his mouth. Jess and Rory. Rory and Jess. Although he never suspected them ever to be back together he couldn't help but think that something about them was just right.

"You were right," Jess said, as the couple walked down the Stars Hollow street.

"Hmmm…?"

"This was fun."

Rory looked up at him and smiled and he gave her a small grin in return, neither smile was less genuine than the other.

* * *

Aki- Hope you enjoyed!

**Please Read**- I currently mangae a Gilomore Girls C2 called "One Shot Heaven" for amzing, unqiu, and/or well -written oneshots of all varous plots, ships, and genres. If you enjoy oneshots please check it out. If you have writeen ro read a oneshot you consider worthy please email me or drop the title and author in a review for consideration. Thank you.


	6. Chapter 6: Meeting

**Meeting**

"Now this is just ridiculous."

"Come on, town meetings are fun. Half the time you get to make fun of all the stupid things they are arguing over.

"And the other half you are being annoyed to the point of violence by Taylor and or Kirk."

"Pleeeeease!"

"Stop pouting!"

"Come on, Jess. I'm going with or without you. Do you want to be abandoned in the middle of Stars Hollow all by yourself at night….or have me as a buffer."

"That's a tough choice, to face the horrors of Stars Hollow alone or walking knowingly into the lions' den with you," Jess said mockingly.

"It should be a hard choice at all where I'm concerned," said Rory, crossing her arms in mock indignity.

"Fine, I'm coming," said Jess in defeat.

"Yes! Now hurry, I don't want to be late," said Rory, grabbing Jess' hand and practically dragging him down the sidewalk.

"We're already late," he noted coolly.

"Well, any lat_er_."

Jess growled to himself, he didn't know why he was giving into Rory's whims so easily. His seventeen year old self would have never done this. But, of course, his seventeen year old self had no problem with hiding out in Luke's apartment during such meetings or smoking in a clearly posted non-smoking area, just out of defiance against Taylor.

About a block from Miss Patty's studio where the town meeting were held they ran into a familiar face.

"Mom!" said Rory, releasing her boyfriend's hand to give her mother a hug. "We hadn't had a chance to come a see you yet, we've been so busy."

"Making out in Luke's?" asked Lorelai with a barely concealed grin. "Yeah, I heard…from about five different sources."

"Yeah…well, but it wasn't my idea," Rory replied with a shrug, glancing over her shoulder at Jess who scowled.

"You created quite an uproar, even by Stars Hollow standards."

"Yeah?"

"Makes me proud," Lorelai gushed. Jess followed the two Gilmore girls up to the meeting hall, where they opened the back door and tried, note, tried, to sneak in.

"You're late," stated Taylor coldly from the podium.

"Yeah, what else is new?" asked Lorelai sarcastically. The three sat down in the back, watching as many of the towns' folk give into the temptation to turn around at ogle Jess and Rory shamelessly.

"Center of attention," Lorelai commented to her daughter in a whisper.

"Always," she replied with a grin. Jess' scowl deepened.

"… and now to our next piece of business," said Taylor from the front of the room. "Many members of the town, including myself, are concerned by a rather new development. Earlier today there was an occurrence in Luke's Diner…"

Rory suddenly grabbed Jess' arm tightly. Neither one could believe this was seriously happening, if what they thought was happening was actually happening.

"…and now the new relationship between Rory Gilmore and Jess Mariano is on the floor for discussion."

"What the hell?!" That was Jess.

"I don't appreciate that language, young man," scolded Taylor. Jess looked like he could care less what Taylor appreciated or not.

"I thought Luke was joking when they said they'd have a meeting over us," said Rory in a horrified whisper.

"He wasn't. Remember, they had a meeting about Luke and me when we started dating."

"But that was different! Neither Jess or I actually live in this town."

Lorelai shrugged. "It's life, kid. They are overprotective of you."

"I would like to know how serious this 'relationship' is?" asked, Kirk, hand raised in the front row.

"That's none of your business," commented Rory loudly from the back of the room.

"Miss Gilmore, please do not talk out of turn," Taylor reprimanded. Rory stared at him, agape. "Kirk presents a valid question. If this is a serious relationship this means that Mr. Mariano will being coming to Stars Hollow regularly withy you, Miss Gilmore, that is town business."

"How?"

"Well, it means we have to be concerned and even spend town budget money on vandalism and pranks-"

"I'm twenty-one. I don't pull that crap anymore!" shouted Jess.

"Language, Mr. Mariano."

"Jeesh," he said to himself, running a nervous hand through his hair. "This is ridiculous."

"What was that?"

"He said," Rory said, loudly, anger building, standing up, "This is ridiculous. And frankly, I agree."

"Rory," said Miss Patty, who had taken the mike from a rather irritated Taylor, "It's not just the town we're worried about, we're worried about you. We don't want you to get hurt."

The room rumbled with agreements.

"I'm not going to get hurt," she retorted.

"I'm sure that's what you said the first time," a voice from somewhere in the middle of the room, sounding suspiciously like Gypsy's (although it was probably a protest against all men).

The room rumbled in agreement again.

"That's not fair!" Rory protested.

"Ror, its okay," said Jess behind her, trying to clam her down. She turned and look down at him where he was still seated.

"No, it's not," she said shakily. "You many not think you deserve a little defense, but you do."

"You can't say he has a good track record…" someone else commented loudly to room.

Rory made her way out of the seating row to the pathway in the middle of the room. "Look," she began.

Taylor interrupted, finally getting his microphone power back from Patty, "Now, now, this meeting is getting entirely out of hand. We need a little bit of order here."

"Oh, let the girl talk, Taylor. We all want to hear this," said Babette in her husky tones. Again the room agreed, and Taylor conceded

"Look," Rory began again, trying to keep a calm composure, slowly walking to the front of the room. "You think you know him," she said, waving a hand to indicate to Jess, sitting silently in the back of the room. "But you don't. All you know is a seventeen year old kid who moved here years ago. None of you ever got to know him, who he was, why he did the things he did. I got to know him. He became my friend. He become my boyfriend and you were all too stubborn to believe he was actually a good person who got handed a back lot in life.

"Then he was gone and you all were happy about it. He broke my heart, I won't deny it, and you were proved right in your minds that he wasn't good enough.

"Now I want you all to take a second to remember a time not too long ago. Remember when I wasn't talking to my mom. When I wasn't living here. When I was living with my grandparents, and had dropped out of Yale and was doing community service for stealing a boat. I know you all remember it. You couldn't believe that me, your little, perfect Rory Gilmore could have messed this big. I had.

"But you forgot it, you forgave me, because I came back. I became your little, successful Rory Gilmore again and none of you took a second to think why I changed. Do you think I just came to my senses all of the sudden! No! I was _so_ lost with no one to save me…but he did."

Silence throughout the room, Jess and Rory's eyes seemed to lock even though Rory was now at the front of the room, standing in front of the podium and he was sitting in the back next to Lorelai.

"He was the first person to tell me that it was wrong. This wasn't the person I shouldn't be. 'What's going on?' he asked, 'What's going on?' I honestly didn't know. That's when I realized it, when looking for the time at Jess who was an adult, and responsible, and successful, and had proved himself, and just wanted to help me… That's when I realized two things. He was right and I was sorry. He was right. He saved me that day. He saved me from myself. Only someone who had known me so well could have done that. And, yes, the second thing was I was sorry. I was sorry because I should have forgiven him a long time ago, and secondly, I was sorry because I had given up on him, but he hadn't given up on me."

Rory's voice cracked. She hastily wiped away a tear that was ready to fall. "So yes, we are serious. The adult me and the adult him are in a serious relationship. And I understand you are all just trying to do the right thing, but trust me. I am doing the right thing. Because…because, god, I don't know why this is so hard. He's told me so many times before, but I've never told him to his face. He loves me. And…and I love him. We love each other. And neither of us is willing to give up this time."

There was an uneasy silence throughout the room, a few hushed mumbling going on between some. Rory bit her lip nervously. She couldn't believe she just did that. She couldn't believe she just confessed her love to Jess in front of the entire town.

"That's all," she finished quietly, before rushing to sit back in her seat again.

"Umm," stated Taylor rather lamely, "Well, now that that's resolved we need to discuss the town's pigeon problem."

Rory sighed in relief, no more talk about her.

"Rory," she heard Jess whisper in her ear. She had been avoiding looking at him.

"Yeah," she whispered back.

"You're amazing."


	7. Chapter 7: Liz

**Aki- **Basically this is the next day after last chapter. Rory and Jess are staying the whole weekend in the SH, as I like to call it. It's fun writing Liz, you all should try it.

**

* * *

**

**Liz**

"It's kind of weird that I haven't met your mom before," commented Rory to Jess. "Especially with Luke and Lorelai engaged and all that."

"Yeah, it is. But look at it this way, for a long while she was your ex-boyfriend's mother."

"Good point."

"But she probably would have liked you more than me anyway."

"Oh, don't say that!"

"It's true. When Liz found out that you and I had dated she immediately assumed I had broken your heart."

"Well, actually… oh, don't glare at me like that. Keep your eyes on the road, especially after you insisted on driving."

"I'm only driving because _you_ don't know where Liz and TJ live."

"It's Stars Hollow, I would have found it eventually."

"…"

"… Are we there yet?"

"Oh, please don't start with that again," said Jess, a desperate note in his voice, although there was also a touch of amusement.

"But seriously," said Rory in a way, trying to keep a straight face, but obviously still joking, "Are we there-,"

Jess cut her off. "Look, I'll tell you when we are there. It'll be when we stop in a driveway, alright?"

Rory stuck her tongue out at him, "You're no fun."

"That is me," replied Jess sarcastically. Soon later they stopped by a small house on a cozy, residential Stars Hollow street.

"Nervous?" asked Jess as he turned of the engine.

"I wasn't," retorted Rory, "But because you asked, I am now."

"Come on, she'll love you."

"Why are we meeting her again?" asked Rory.

"Because she heard about your big confession of love for me, and won't stop annoying neither Luke nor me until we agreed to come visit."

"Oh, yeah."

The couple approached the front door and was on the front stoop as it was flung open before either one could knock.

"Jess!" exclaimed Liz enthusiastically, throwing her arms around her son's shoulders, much to his chagrin. Rory was barely able to suppress her smirk.

However, Liz quickly turned her attention to Rory. "You must be Rory," said Liz with a smile. "I've heard wonderful things about you from Lorelai and Luke, …but not from Jess because he refuses to discuss his personal life with me."

Jess scowled at the comment.

"Is TJ here?" he asked brusquely.

"No, he's out on a job today," answered Liz.

Jess looked like he could have jumped for joy if he didn't care so much about his tough guy reputation to do such a thing.

"Come in, come in," usher Liz, motioning the couple inside her house and into the sitting room, where Rory and Jess sat on a couch next to each other and Liz sat across from them.

"If I remember correctly, you are going to Yale, right?" asked Liz politely and actively.

"Uh, yes," said Rory not too firmly. They were the first words Liz had let her get in edgewise. "I'm almost done my third year," Rory added, trying not to sound stupid, "I'm majoring in journalism."

"Oh, that's great. No one in our family ever went to college. We're sort of the make your own path type." If anyone other than Liz in her cheery, light-hearted tone had made that comment it would have seemed derogatory. Either to Jess, with all his brains, for falling to finally bring a college education to their family name, or to Rory from being too conformist and _going_ to college. However, from the woman sitting across from Rory, Rory could tell it was just an innocent observation

"What- what do you do?" asked Rory, trying to be polite by showing interests in Liz.

"I make jewelry," said Liz, very seriously.

"Oh, um, that's….interesting."

"It is," affirmed Liz with energy, not noticing Rory's surprise. "I used to sell traveling with the Renaissance Fair. But I'm trying to make it a more stable business now that I'm more settled."

"That's nice—"

A sudden beeping of a smoke detector interrupted her.

"Ohmigod! The cookies!" yelled Liz, dashing across the room to the kitchen.

"Do you need help?" Rory called after the woman, after hearing several bangs and the alarm still beeping.

"No, everything's under control," replied a strained voice.

"So," drawled Jess, "What's with all the trouble."

"Hmm?"

"Trouble. You. You can hardly get a sentence together."

"It's just, that's not what expected your mom to be like. She's so…." Rory waved her hand in they air, trying to find the right word.

"Flakey?" suggested Jess.

"I was going to go with outgoing, but okay."

"Look, she already loves you. I think she's more excited to see you than me-"

"Well, I am pretty fabulous."

Jess continued as if his girlfriend hadn't sad anything, "Just loosen up and be yourself."

"You know, you haven't said like a word. You could help me out."

"Nah, watching you struggle is too much fun."

"Sadist," retorted Rory with a scowl.

"That is me."

Liz came back into the sitting room holding a pan of black supposed to be cookies with a dejected look on her face.

"I wanted to make cookie for you guys. Thought it would be nice, but then I forgot to set the timer and…they're burnt."

"I can see that," replied Jess to his mother's declaration.

"Oh, well," said Liz setting the pan down unceremoniously onto the coffee table before sitting down herself.

"You'll burn the table, if you leave that hot pan on it," commented Jess dryly.

"Oh, right," said Liz, having not thought of that. She made to take the pan back to the kitchen, but Jess picked it up, with a hot mat mind you, first.

"I'll do it," he said before exiting the room. Rory wasn't sure if he was doing such because he believed his mother would burn something else in the kitchen with the pan or because he wanted to leave Rory and Liz alone.

"So," began Liz, "I heard about what you said about my son at the Town Meeting last night. I'm kind of sorry I missed it."

Rory blushed slightly and nodded.

"Did you mean it?" asked Liz, not in an accusatory way, no, rather she sounded hopeful.

"Every word," replied Rory softly.

"Jess has …changed a lot from when he was a teenager."

"I know."

"I wish could have had something to do with that, but I didn't. I wasn't a very good mother."

Rory opened her mouth to say that she didn't believe that or it wasn't true, but she couldn't find the words. Liz was acting the most serious she had since Rory had met her earlier that very same day.

"I wasn't and I knew it. That's why I sent him to Luke. Luke knew nothing about being a parent, but he had to be better than me. Jess was a handful, he was a lot of trouble. But I never doubted that he would come around, sure I was scared, but I didn't want to give up hope for him. And he did change. I can't take any of the credit for it. I credit Luke for helping him, and Jess for changing himself. And now you."

"Me?" asked Rory curiously.

Liz nodded. "You," she repeated. "Luke didn't just tell me _good_ things about you, he told me _great_ things about you." Rory blushed again. "Back then, you were his friend, you were his girlfriend, you are his girlfriend now. He never came to Stars Hollow willingly and happily before, he's never come to see me willingly and happily before either. But here he is, with you. He doesn't like to say it, or like to show it, but I can tell, he's happy. Thank you."

Rory didn't know what to say. Sure, she had realized she had had an effect of Jess's life, but so had he on hers. She had never given herself so much credit. But here, this woman, Jess's mother, was praising her and thanking her for helping her son.

"I- " Rory started unsurely. "He was a great person when I just met him. I don't think he saw it, but he was. I wasn't always there for him when I should have been. But…he saved me too…"

"You do love him," Liz observed.

Rory nodded, "I do."

"So what are you guys talking about?" asked Jess, reentering the sitting room.

"Nothing," said Rory and Liz simultaneously, but Liz caught Rory's eye and they both smiled.


	8. Chapter 8: Everything

**Aki- **Okay, this chapter strays from the main point of the story but I thought if I was going to change season six so that Rory and Jess are together, why not cure Luke and Lorelai's relationship as well. So, yes, that is what this chapters is about and you should proabaly expect javajunkie undertones throughout the rest of the story. Next chapter will be Lit again, but, well, hasn't it been going just a little too good for the couple at the moment...?

**

* * *

**

**Everything**

Luke decided that persistently ringing telephones should not be allowed to exist. Especially when he was trying to sleep. Especially especially when he was trying to sleep because he had to get up early.

Finally, giving into the annoyingness, he rolled over and answered the phone.

"What?" he said gruffly.

"That's not a polite way to answer the phone, Uncle Luke," teased a voice on the other line.

"Jess?" asked Luke, surprised. "Are you okay?"

"Um…I'm fine."

"Then why are you calling me so late at night?"

"Late? It's ten o'clock."

"That is late when I have to get up before forty-thirty for a delivery tomorrow."

"Huh…"

"So did you call for a reason…?" asked Luke in an irritated voice.

"Oh, right. Well I didn't really have a chance to talk to you while we were in Stars Hollow…well not in private anyway."

"And why do you need to talk to me in private?"

"Because I'm worried about you."

"Me?" asked Luke curiously.

"Yes, you…and Lorelai."

"What?" said Luke, confused.

"I was only there a short time, but the two of you seemed…distant," explained Jess in an unnaturally concerned tone of voice.

"I—," began Luke hesitantly.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed."

"Things have been a little rough since April has entered my life," explained Luke almost ritualistically.

"Huh…"

"What?" snapped Luke.

"Your choice of pronoun is interesting."

Luke quickly thought over what he had just said, but was still confused.

After a long silence Jess supplied the answer. "You said 'my life' instead of 'our lives.'"

"Does that really mean anything?" asked Luke.

He could almost hear the shrug in Jess's tone as he replied. "I don't know. Does it?"

Luke opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. A silence hung between the uncle and nephew on the phone for a few moments as Luke tried to find a reply…any reply.

"I think I just got my answer," said Jess, breaking the prolonged quietness.

"So what?" shot back Luke defensively, finally finding his voice. "April is part of my life, not Lorelai's."

"But you're marrying Lorelai. April will be her step-daughter…"

"But she's not yet."

"But she will be."

"I know. I think it is okay, but Anna—,"

"Who?" cut in Jess, confused.

"April's mom," Luke explained, his flow broken.

"Right."

"Well, Anna doesn't want April hanging out with Lorelai."

"Why not…?  
"I…I don't really know. I guess she is nervous because she has never met Lorelai….or that April will get to attached to her. I have to respect that. April is Anna's daughter."

"She's your daughter too."

"Yeah, but…"

"But you don't think that you have the right to cross what _Anna_ wants because you've only just entered April's life," filled in Jess rather confidently.

"Well," began Luke, "Yeah…but when did you get so…"

"I've always been observant," replied Jess in such a way that Luke couldn't tell if his nephew was joking or being serious.

"So what's the problem with—?"

"The problem is," Jess quickly interrupted, as though getting tired that Luke was taking so long to get the point. "That as you are tying to accommodate April, and more like Anna, you've forgotten about Lorelai."

"That's ridiculous. I haven't forgotten about her—"

"Really? Then why is she so distant."

"She's not…" Luke tried to defend, but his words faded off. Yeah, she was distant.

"Here's a few guess…," said Jess, "One, you've kicked her out of an important part of your life. Two, Anna has more power over you than she does. Three, she wants to be a part of your and April's lives, but you are not letting her. Four, you're engaged but there is no wedding planed… Shall I go on?"

"I—," Luke stuttered. Jess was right. _Jess_ was right…? "Seriously, how did you know all this?"

"I've told you already. I've always been observant and…."

"And?" demanded Luke.

"Rory told me."

"Ah, Rory. That explains it."

"But it doesn't mean that I'm not right."

"So what if you are! What can I do? I have April to think about and I don't want to ruin my chances of being a father to her by upsetting—"

"Anna," Jess supplied. "But have you even tried to convince her to think otherwise about letting April see Lorelai?"

"Umm… no."

"Yeah, well there's _one thing_ you can do," said Jess sardonically.

"But still," Luke tried to say. He had to explain to Jess his reasons…maybe because he wanted to understand his reasons himself.

"But still nothing. No one thinks you are wrong trying to get to know your daughter, or realizing that you may have to play by her mother's rules, but that's not the only thing you have to be worried about. You have to be worried about Lorelai."

"She's fine with it. She said so."

"She said so… Did it ever occur to you that she could be lying?"

"She's not," retorted Luke sounding not too convinced himself as he said it.

There was a pause on the line before Jess slowly replied, "She is."

"What should I…?" asked Luke, quietly, weakly, the realization of his mistakes over the last few months rushing to him, crushing him. This was wrong, all wrong, how could have let it get so wrong?

"I can't tell you what to do," said Jess softly. "All I can tell you is what I know from experience. If you push someone away, even if they love you, they eventually won't try to come back. Not everyone is as lucky as me and gets a second chance."

Jess was done. He made his point. He gave his message. Luke was left with a dial tone.

He hung up the phone a few moments later, this thoughts still scattered. He knew everything Jess had told him all along, except he never let himself look at it, face it. He wondered how he let everything go all askew.

He picked up the phone again and dialed a familiar number. It was answered after two rings.

"'Ello?" said a chipped voice on the other line.

"Lorelai?" he asked tentatively.

"Luke," she returned, surprise on her voice.

"Can— can I come over?"

"Sure, um, why?" she asked, clearly confused.

"I want to talk to you about something…something important."

"Okay, I was just watching a movie."

"I'll be their in ten minutes…and I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" she asked. "About what?"

"Everything."


	9. Chapter 9: Logan

**Aki-** Okay, so you are probably looking at the chapter title and going, "Oh, no…" But you know what, things have been going a little to good for Rory and Jess at the moment, I had to add a little controversy.

**

* * *

**

**Logan**

"Are you going to come up this weekend?"

"And have another eventful weekend in Stars Hollow….?" teased Jess. "It's a tempting offer."

"Come on," Rory said, almost whined, over the phone. "We don't have to go to Stars Hollow at all. We can have…alone time…."

"Now that is a tempting offer."

"So?"

"I'll see if I can get away."

Rory pouted. "Don't raise my hopes like that."

"What?" asked Jess, confused.

"Everyone knows that 'I'll see' means no. So if you mean no, then say 'no'."

"I don't mean 'no'."

"Then you mean 'yes'" said Rory hopefully.

"No. I mean, I'll see."

Rory grumbled incoherently under her breath. Jess chose to ignore it.

"So what are your plans for tonight?" asked Jess a moment later.

Rory shrugged despite Jess being unable to see her. "You know I might go to a crazy college party. Get drunk. Pick up a guy…or two."

"Rory…"

"Hey," she said defensively, "This is what happens when you are not here."

"Okay, so what are you really doing tonight?"

"Catch up on some reading, maybe proof some articles for the Yale Daily News, Perhaps watch a movie. "

"Spending the night in, huh?"

"Well there is not much else to do when…wait I have a call on the other line, can I call you…?"

"I'll just hang up, you don't have to call me back tonight—"

"Alright, bye, love you."

"Love you too."

Rory switched to the other call hastily, hoping not to lose it, without looking at the number.

"Hello," she said.

"Rory," slurred a familiar voice on the other end.

"…Logan…?" she asked tentatively, worried.

"Rory," he repeated, "Can you pick me up?"

"Pick you up…?" she asked, confused. "Pick you up from where?"

There was a hesitation on the line before he was answered slowly. "From the police station…"

…

"Idiot, idiot, idiot," admonished Rory a good hour later, pulling out of the police station, Logan sitting in the passenger seat of her car.

"Sorry," he mumbled for maybe the hundredth time that night.

Rory rolled her eyes, but kept her attention on the road.

"What did you get arrested for in the first place?" she asked exasperatedly.

"I don't know, being drunk in public or disturbing the peace or some stupid charge like that," said Logan a little bitterly, the whole wearying experience having sobered him up quite a bit.

"Why? asked Rory, annoyance still in her tone. "Why do you have to drunk all the time?"

"It's not _all_ the time," he said defensively. "Sure I drink a lot, but I don't always get drunk…"

"Well, then why did you have to get drunk tonight?"

"…"

"Well?" she demanded. She may be being rude, but she was the one who had just gone out her way to get him from prison, so she had the right to be snippy.

"…Because I miss you…"

Rory kept her eyes defiantly on the road in front of her, not trusting herself to look at him even though she felt his eyes on her. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel and the dense, uneasy silence continued.

"Rory," Logan said softly, emotion filling his voice, breaking the long silence.

"Don't," she said suddenly cutting him off, however her voice was not as hard and mean so before. Although still defiant there was a little bit of unidentifiable weakness as well.

"Please," he pleaded, "Just hear me out—"

"No," she said, again cutting him off. "Because I already know what you are going to say….and I already know my answer, you know it to."

"But…" he said, "but I love you."

Rory let out a weary sigh. "Logan, please, don't."

"But Ace…" he protested weakly.

"Logan, I told you the day we broke up that I haven't stop caring about you. That's still true. That's why I came when you called me tonight. But, there is no 'us' anymore."

"Why not, Ace. I love you. You're the only girl I ever really loved."

"There are other girls."

"But you're the only one—"

"Listen for just a minute," protested Rory. "I have loved more than one boy in my life. I know my mom has loved more than one person. But it doesn't always work out just because you love them."

"It's only not working because you don't want it to work!" exclaimed Logan.

"Then it won't work! Two people make a relationship, Logan. There were times I felt you weren't all in it and times that you were. But now, I'm out. I'm sorry, but that's how it is."

"I— I guess I always hoped you would come back," he said quietly after a moment of silence.

"Logan, there are other girls out there. Learn from the things you did right in our relationship and did wrong in our relationship. You'll fall in love again. I'm telling you. You'll just have to move on."

"Maybe I don't want to move on."

"No one really _wants_ to move on, but we have to when the time comes…and here's your apartment," Rory added as she pulled into his parking lot.

"Rory, Ace," he said in a last desperate attempt. "Just give it a chance."

"Logan," she said softly, turning to face him and having eye contact for the first time during there heavy conversation, "Don't make this harder on _you_ then it has to be."

Logan bowed his head slightly in defeat before climbing out of her car.

"Good bye, Logan," she said in a way he found too definite.

"Bye, Ace."

She drove away, leaving him standing there in the parking lot wondering where everything went wrong.

Rory reached her apartment building much later that night, worn out from the emotionally heavy conversation as well as the very long rides both to the police station, then to Logan's apartment building, and then all the way across town back to her apartment.

She carried herself up the steps, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Her whole night was shot. Her reading and the newspaper and the movie would have to watch until tomorrow. She fumbled wearily with her keys as she unlocked the complicated door.

However, when she stepped into her apartment, she was greeted by someone she hadn't expected.

"Rory," said Jess standing up from where he was sitting on the couch.

Rory's eyes widened in surprise and all thoughts of sleep were wiped out of her mind.

"What- What are you doing here?" she asked nervously, "I thought you sad you would try to come, but even then I wouldn't have expected you until tomorrow.

"I wanted to surprise you," he said coolly with a small shrug, hands in his pockets. She could tell that he already suspected something was wrong because of her jumpy manner. "Anyway," he said, turning his piercing gaze away from her and idly looking at the objects on the table beside the couch, flipping a few pages in the tv guide. "I thought you said you were spending the night here."

"Well, that was the plan, but—"

"I've been waiting almost three quarters of an hour."

"I'm sorry, but something came up—"

"What happened? Where were you?"

Rory was struggling to find a word and ended up with the probably the worst explanation should could come up with. One word slipped off of her tongue that made the night stand still.

"…Logan…"

**

* * *

**

**Aki- **Ahh, it's a cliffie, my first real one this story. On a different note, have you written or read a one shot lately that you consider amazing, just drop the name and the author in a review or message to me so I can consider it for my C2 'Oneshot Heaven.'


	10. Chapter 10: Choices

**Choices**

"Huh?" an instant response of shock and horror. "Did—did you just say…?"

Rory's hands came to her head in her own shock and horror. "I did _not_ just say that," she whispered to herself.

"Ah, yes you did. You just said 'Logan.'"

"Don't take that in the wrong way!" Rory said in a rush.

"I don't know how else to take it," replied Jess, still standing in place, staring at Rory who was standing still herself several feet away, staring back.

"It's…maybe I should start from the beginning…" said Rory, thankful that Jess hadn't exploded yet.

"I think that's probably a good idea…" replied Jess a bit shaky. All the worst case scenarios were running through his head and he hoped a rational explanation would make everything alright. But if it involved Logan at all, everything definitely wouldn't be alright.

"Well, the beginning, um…"

"Yeah, well, it's a good place to start," replied Jess uneasily. Awkwardness filled the room heavily.

"Let's see, I was talking on the phone with you and I got another call," explained Rory with unnecessary hand motions including making a phone shape with her hands an pointing at Jess when she said his name. It may have been the fact that she was trying to figure out how she had gotten into the situation herself. "And it was Logan."

"Yeah, that beginning is not that much better," said Jess, only a touch of humor in his voice, the rest of him was serious.

"Well, he needed someone to pick him up from the police station and so I did ad I drove him home. And I told he was an idiot and nothing happened."

"That's it?" asked Jess tentatively.

"That's it," confirmed Rory and then added swiftly, "And he told me he loved me, but that's not a big deal."

The expression on Jess' s face said he clearly thought it was a big deal. He ran a hand nervously through his hair.

"I believe you," he said after a long silence.

A wave of relief washed over Rory.

"But it doesn't mean I like this."

"Jess…" she said, taking a few steps toward him. "I had to," she added with a little shrug.

"But doesn't he have his own friends to pick him up?" asked Jess. Rory paused, she hadn't really thought about that at the time.

"Well, they were probably all too drunk themselves," she explained although Jess did not completely understand, having not the back-story of the actual events of her ex-boyfriend's arrest.

A silence fell between them again. It was tense and awkward because of the harsh situation and their way of talking around the problem rather than confronting it. Perhaps they hadn't come as far in their new relationship as they thought. They were both too scared, too wary to start a fight with the other, or even just accidentally spark one. Because the two of them didn't' have the best repertoire of dealing with fights…

"Maybe I should go," said Jess, making his way to the door, brushing lightly by Rory as he passed on his way.

That brought the brunette girl to her senses.

"Stay," she said, commanded, as Jess's hand reached for the doorknob.

He paused, taking a second to revel at the irony of the situation, how their roles had been reversed.

He turned to look at Rory.

"I want you to stay," she repeated. He gave a little nod of the head as if to say that he heard her, but he wanted an explanation as to why. She sighed and continued. "If you leave now…if I let you leave…without working this...us…out…well, we've done that before and it doesn't work. So please, stay. I want you to."

"…Okay."

"Why—why don't we sit down," Rory suggested tentatively.

Jess sat down on the couch, Rory followed.

"Okay, how 'bout we start this over," said Rory. Jess said nothing. "Okay, well, Logan did call me and I went to help him out. But _nothing_ happened. I don't feel anything for more than friendly. When I look back on it now it probably wasn't the best idea. I'll admit that. But he is still a friend to me, and I care about what happened to him in his life even though we broke up. I was interested just the same way with you," reasoned Rory, trying to be open as possible, really hoping Jess would say something, anything.

After a moment's pause in the conversation he mumbled in retort, "Yeah, but look how well that turned out for _him_."

Rory couldn't help but smile. If Jess could be playfully sarcastic at a time like this, everything was not lost.

"Trust me, nothing is ever going happened between Logan me anymore. He'll never be anything more than a friend."

Jess looked Rory on the eye. "It's not _you_ that I don't trust."

"What do you mean?" asked Rory.

"I mean that…I'm not ignorant of how far a guy would go to get the amazing Rory Gilmore back…or even for the first time."

Rory tried, and failed, not to blush.

"Tell me it's not true. Look at Dean. Look at me," reasoned Jess. "You can't tell me Logan would just give up…"

Rory had to agree with him. She thought how much Logan did to regain their relationship after they had 'broken up' the first time. All the flowers and gifts and always coming after her.

"Even so, I'm with you now," she said softly.

"But what happens if one day he's chasing after you and …"

"And?" Rory prodded.

Jess grimaced slightly as though he hated what he was about to say.

"And you see him compared to who you traded him in for."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Rory, a little sharply, sitting up straight.

Jess tore his eyes away from her. "Don't get me wrong. I pretty much hate Logan. I think he's a jerk and no way deserves you, but…he has a lot of things that I can't offer you."

"What?"

"Come on, he's rich and has connections. You're grandmother probably adores him. He could take you places—"

"But I don't love him,' she interrupted, forcing Jess to look back at her.

"You did once," he said as if that were enough explanation.

"But not anymore."

"What if that changes?"

"It won't."

"How do you know?"  
"I know…because I am in love with you. And you give me something that he ever could, and ever did."

Jess narrowed his eyebrows in question, but spoke not a word.

Rory bit her bottom lip before continuing. "Not only do you believe in me, you make _me _believe in me. Something he never did. These last few weeks have been the happiest of my life. I've never wanted something more than what we have now." Rory paused and gave him a small, but sincere smile.

"Just remember," she continued. "I already faced a choice between Logan and you already. And I chose you. I love you and I promise I always will because I'm not going to chose someone else."

Jess reached out and cupped her cheek in his warm hand. Their eyes meet, blue and brown locked in an intense gaze.

"You're perfect," he whispered and she could hardly stand to blink, fearing that the honestly and romanticism of his gaze would disappear. "And I love you too."

A kiss. Shared, passion, intensity, compassion, truth, sincerity, love… It was innocent at the same time as being mature. They had reached something, some landmark, some uncharted area, farther than they had ever gone in their relationship before. Complete trust, understanding, and knowing that love will not go away with a bump in the road. They didn't have to hide their feelings anymore.

It had been a night of choices. They could have fought. They could have run away. They could have given up. And in the end, they fought. They fought to keep what they had, because both of them had enough of running away and giving up. And right now they knew this was for real.


	11. Chapter 11: Dedication

**Aki**- I think some of you thought that last chapter was the end. Well, as you see, it isn't. This isn't the end either. Oh yeah, originally this was an idea to be its own one shot, but because I couldn't think of what this chapter should I thought I'd do this.

* * *

**Dedication**

Rory was thrilled when she heard. Jess, on the other hand, wasn't so thrilled, although he guessed he should be. At the time, writing a book seemed like a good idea, but he hated how everyone kept making a big deal about it. He also hated how Matt and Chris had decided without him to reprint _The Subsect. _Apparently it had become of the small publishing houses best-sellers.

So here he sat, like he had for the last few days, at his desk, forced by his co-workers to reedit his work before the next printing. He had half a mind to try and destroy the manuscript so that they couldn't reprint it, but he knew it was useless. They had more than one copy.

However, that was not what was frustrating him at the moment. He wasn't sure how many hours ago it had been when he decided it would be a good idea to write a dedication. It was long ago enough for it to have transformed from a good idea into a terrible disaster.

There was no question in his mind to who his novel should be dedicated: Rory. However, he couldn't quiet find the words to say it. It seemed he had either come up with something incredibly dull or incredibly cheesy.

Toying with his pen he read over some of the discarded dedications, hoping for some spark of inspiration.

The first phrases were rather boring:

_I Dedicate this Book To Rory Gilmore._

That immediately had been scratched off. It had simply been too…horrible. He tried something shorter.

_To Rory Gilmore._

That was better, but not good enough. Still too old-fashioned.

_To Rory_.

Jess recalled how he had leaned back and admired his work when he had first wrote that. However, his victory was short lived. He knew that he had write more. Say something. Explain how much it meant that she was there, in his life. Both then and now.

He added to the former phrase, _To Rory, I couldn't have done it without you._

It was true, but Jess wasn't satisfied with it. She knew that already. He had told her, he needed to say something more.

_To Rory, my inspiration._

He almost retched after writing it. Apparently he could be cheesy… Well, Rory knew that he could be, but he'd rather not have it in print.

Maybe he could expand from just acknowledgment about the book to his life.

_To Rory, my hero._

He almost retched again.

_To Rory, the love of my life._

This would ruin his tough boy image.

_To Rory, my soul mate._

Wow, if the last one sucked, this one took the cake. He'd never, ever be able to live this down.

_To Rory, you saved my life._

Jess had to admit that this was an improvement. A small one, but an improvement.

_To Rory, you'll never know how much you did._

Jess didn't like it. It was too vague, too bland, too 'I didn't put enough thought into this' like.

_To Rory…_

And this is where Jess's work had ended. He couldn't think of anything to add behind her name. He bit the top of his pen in thought. He was a writer after all, how hard was it too think of something to explain the affect she had had on his life.

_To Rory_, he wrote again unnecessarily, _You put color in my life._

It was okay.

_To Rory, you put color into my colorless world._

Even better than the last, maybe he should try another variation. A not so redundant one.

_To Rory, you put color into my black and white life._

_…_

_To Rory, the one who painted my black and white world. _

_…_

_To Rory, thanks for helping me see color. _

_…_

Okay, it was time to change trains of thought. If all else failed, he could fall back on one of these.

_To Rory, the best person I ever met._

Apparently he was back to being cheesy

_To Rory, I'm a better person when I am with you._

_To Rory, I love you._

…

_To Rory, I love you so much._

…

_To Rory, Where would I been without your love?_

…

Jess couldn't take it, he swore his whole novel was easy to write than this. He knew Rory would be ecstatic from just the fact that he dedicated the book to her, never mind what words he put in it. But…he wanted to write the perfect thing. He wanted to prove to her, to show her, be romantic for once in his life. He needed her to know.

He was not good at saying what he felt, he never was. It was even harder when whatever he wrote for her was going to be published.

A second thought popped into his mind. Maybe he was trying too hard. He was trying to come up with that perfect movie line from a chick flick. He didn't need a "You've had me at hello" or a "Love means never having to say your sorry." That wouldn't mean anything to Rory because he wasn't being him, he wasn't being true…

Tearing the page out of his note book, Jess began writing random, silly, anything thoughts for dedications that were more him, although he may never use them…

_To Rory, I can't believe you like this book, but hate Hemmingway._

He didn't know where that came from, but it made him laugh. It would make her laugh too. He continued his nonsense.

_Rory, if you had to chose between this book and coffee, what would it be? _

…

_Rory, I still can't believe you like this…_

_…_

_Rory, I blame you for this._

_…_

_Rory, _Jess paused, his humor seeping out of him, and seriousness sinking in, _you made this happen. You saw more in me than I ever saw in myself. I don not have any words to explain how thankful I am for you being in my life, except for these._

Jess paused yet again. He reread his words. It was almost as though they were written subconsciously. The next four words he had refused to write down yet, but they lingered in his mind.

Matt came up into the apartment, disturbing Jess's thoughts.

"How's the work going?" his friend asked lightly.

"Huh," Jess replied in a noncommittal answer.

"That well?... I could use a hand in the shop once you take a break." He turned to go back downstairs.

"Matt?"

"Yeah," Matt said, pausing his descent.

"How long until _The Subsect_ is released again?"

"Well, first you have to finish editing. And we have to finish the other book we're working on right now, which will be about a month or two months, God willing… Then, we have to print and bind yours and once we have the large number, redistribute, well it will be quite a while. You know how long it took the first time…"

Jess made no reply and his companion left, slightly confused.

There was something Jess wanted, he wasn't sure he was ready, but he knew he wouldn't be doing this unless he was… He had a long time until he'd have to show her…months, probably over half a year…

He looked back done at his dedication and rewrote it for a final time.

_To Rory, You may never know all that you've done for me, but you did this. You believe in me when I saw nothing worth believing in. I have no words to tell you how thankful I am that you are in my life, except these…Will you marry me…? _


	12. Chapter 12: Wedding

**Aki- **Sorry it took so long to update this. I was really uninspired. I didn't know what to write for this chapter. I am in too much of a Harry Potter mood right now. So I finally came up with this. I'm going away next week so I don't now what the next time i will be able to update is.

* * *

**Wedding**

"I don't understand why they have to have a rehearsal. I mean, all we do is walk down the aisle and stand there. Like we couldn't figure that out on the day of."

"Jess," hissed Rory. "Shh."

"I know how to walk in a straight line. I can give you the names of countless police officers who can attest to that fact."

Rory couldn't stop herself from chuckling slightly even though she gave Jess a withering glare.

Someone coughed pointedly behind them.

Rory jumped slightly. "Oh, were supposed to be walking now," she said in a whisper, giving Jess's arm a little tug as they began slowly down the aisle, accompanied by organ music.

"And afterwards," Jess continued to complain out of the corner of his mouth, "Afterwards we have to go to a fancy dinner, which your grandparents are so graciously hosting."

"Most people look for to the dinner part."

"Have you met your grandparents?"

Rory wanted to hit him, mostly to make him shut up. She stumbled over the first set of steps at the front of the church because he distracted her! But she contented herself with looking pointedly away from him, hiding her smirk.

"I think the attendants should go back and do that again," said the church's wedding coordinator as the music cut off at an awkward point. "It seems that _some_ people aren't taking this seriously." She shot a nasty glare at the maid of honor and the best man which gave them the impression that _she_ was taking this _too_ seriously.

Luke rolled his eyes at them. Lorelai's barely suppressed laughs echoed from the back of the church.

…

"Your grandmother does not look happy to see me," Jess whispered to Rory over his drink about an hour or so later at the Gilmore Mansion.

Rory gave a small shrug. "She really liked Logan."

Jess mumbled something incoherently under her breath. Rory had enough tact not to ask him what.

"It's doesn't matter what she thinks," said Rory, breaking him from his reverie.

"What?" he asked.

"All that matters is what I think…"

Jess observed her for a moment as though trying to determine the appropriate reply. He decided to use a joke.

"What about but I think?"

"Not really important," replied Rory, waving the idea off casually.

Jess opened his mouth to retort, but he was interrupted by Richard Gilmore, who seemed not to connect that Jess was the same 'thug' Rory dated in high school despite Emily's occasional cold glares. Of course, Richard never met Jess the first time, so that was a plus.

"Sorry to steal your friend, Rory," said her grandfather, "But I want to hear more about this publishing house you work at. It sounds fascinating." Richard spoke with true, animated interest.

Rory tried to restrain herself from laughing at the expression on Jess's face. Apparently this was the last thing he expected to here from her rather high-brow grandfather. Jess had only causally mentioned he worked at such a place when questioned in small talk about how he was doing.

"Um…," stated Jess unintelligently, glancing at his girlfriend who gave him a slight nod as to say, 'go on.' "It's just a small, independent publishing house in Philadelphia, but we also use the space where local artists can display their work with hitting them with all kinds of fees. Nothing special."

"Oh, don't be so modest," Rory reprimanded happily. "It's a great place, Grandpa, I've been there. True, it's small, but they have got some great work there. Actually they published Jess's book."

"Rory…" he mumbled, rubbing his forehead. He didn't like mentioning his novel, but he could tell from the smile on his girlfriend's face she was genuinely proud of him and liked to show why.

"You wrote a book?" asked Richard, a slightly amazed tone.

"A short novel," Jess mumbled quietly.

"Is it any good?"

"Amazing," answered Rory for him. "Actually, they sold out and are reprinting. It's one of their best sellers. Jess can get you a copy if you like."

"That would be delightful."

Jess gave a weak smile. Sometimes he felt as if entire self-worth ridded on the single book. It was made feel ill when people asked if they could get a copy to read, well, people he knew anyway. He especially didn't want to give Richard a copy because his proposal to Rory was printed in the front.

A sudden horrible thought popped into Jess's mind. What if Rory said no? How humiliating would that be printed for the world to see. He should call Matt up right away and ask him to remove the dedication… Oh, they were still talking; maybe he should pay attention…?

But it turns out that at that moment a harsh voice called over the crowd, "Richard!"

"I'm supposed to be making the rounds," Rory's grandfather whispered to them. "But I've only talked to you two, please excuse me."

Rory looked appraisingly at Jess. "He likes you," she said cheerfully. "That's something that Dean didn't have."

"…mmm…"

It wasn't much of a response.

…

The next day dawned bright and early. Rory and Jess were kept busy with their respective relatives, mostly calming their nerves about the big day. The busy morning hours zoomed by and the boys soon found themselves waiting at the church.

"We're here," said Rory, poking her head into the room the groomsmen and the groom where waiting. "Luke, they said you need to go to the front of the church. We're hiding Mom so you don't see her."

Luke nodded, but seemed unable to use his voice, before leaving the rooms.

"And boys," she added, giving the group a contemptuous stare, "You're supposed to be ushering the guests…"

Glancing at each other, guilt on their faces, the groomsmen rushed out of the room past Rory, all except Jess.

"Aren't you going?" Rory asked, eyeing him.

"They can handle it without me for a while," Jess said closing the door behind the boys. "You look great by the way," Jess added, eyeing her up, she looking brilliant in a pale yellow, t-length dress, her hair in extensive curls, and a small bouquet of daisies.

"Thanks," she said, not nervously like the first time he complimented her at a wedding (i.e. Sookie's), but with a shrewd look, knowing he was up to something.

Filling the space between them, Jess spoke, "You know, as the best man and maid of honor it is our responsibility to make out at the wedding…"

Rory raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

He nodded.

"Hmm…" said Rory, tapping a finger on her chin as though in great consideration. "I don't know how my boyfriend would feel about that."

"I am your boyfriend."

"I meant my _other_ boyfriend," she said in an 'isn't it obvious' tone.

"Of course, but still, you won't want to neglect our duties…" Jess said, now dangerously close.

Rory had to crane her neck only slightly, as she was wearing heels, to meet his eyes. "Nah, maybe at the reception." And with that she left.

Jess followed a few moments after her to join his fellows at the back of the church.

…

Not long later, all the guests were seated, the organist began to play, and the attendants prepared for their walk up the aisle.

"Rory, you look a little pale, are you okay?" asked Jess, concerned.

"I'm just a little nervous is all. I mean, we didn't really pay attention last night, what if I do it wrong?"

"What if you walk up the aisle wrong? Trust me, its going to be fine."

Rory just nodded. This was a moment Jess thought she took herself too seriously.

First down the aisle was junior bridesmaid April Nardini, followed by the other bridal party: Zach and Lane, Sookie and Jackson, then Jess and Rory. As soon as they reached the front they watched young Martha and Davie as flower girl and ring bearer. They were adorable.

The song changed, the congregation stood and the doors opened to reveal Lorelai in her wedding dress and veil on the arm of her father. All of the anxiety on Luke's face had disappeared as he watched his beautiful bride approach.

Jess watched the on goings with unusually rapt attention. He had never witnessed such unadulterated happiness before. All his experience with relationships usually need with heartache, yelling, fights, whether it be one of his own, or his mother's…

But Luke and Lorelai, they deserved this. They would have the rough patches, all people do, but they would work through them. They loved each other too much. They'd find away. They'd find a, Jess almost cursed himself for thinking such a cheesy thought, happily ever after.

Jess looked over the bride and groom's heads to catch Rory's eyes. They were brimming with tears, but her face was joyful. Jess smiled at her and she smiled back before averting her concentration back to Luke and Lorelai who were reading their vows.

He looked down at himself, and then back at Rory, then to Luke and Lorelai. He wanted it. He wanted to be as happy as the bride and groom. He wanted a happily ever after and he knew the girl he wanted it with.

And that moment all doubts about his proposal disappeared.


	13. Chapter 13: News

**Aki-** I'm warning you know, this chapter sucks. But it is all set up for next chapter which should be good. So, you can't say I didn't warn you about this boring chapter.

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**News**

The summer months flew by, but they were by no means insignificant. As Rory had no summer classes, Jess and her had the chance to spend more time together. She even came to visit him in Philly for a week were she got insiders look at how they run their little publishing house and got along with Matt and Chris remarkable well.

Star Hollow grew to …well, accept isn't quite the right word, but tolerate Rory and Jess's new relationship as they had not had sight nor sound of either of them getting into fights or showing any sort of unhappiness while in their midst. Although this hardly says there weren't rumors. Or that they, or more like he, got the occasion glare or Rory got the occasional hints to drop the loser…

Despite all of this, it was some of their best months as a couple ever. They weren't foolish teenagers anymore. There was no pretense, no difference. They didn't have to fight over whether he went to school or whether or not she talked to Dean. They left nothing hold them back, not even their less than perfect pasts.

And the greatest surprise of the summer for Jess, which came via Matt, due to some money the business came into, they were going to be able to produce faster, meaning his book would be out at two months before originally planned. That meant Jess had to proposes at least two months before originally planned, which in turn meant he was freaking out. This would also explain why he was flipping through a ring magazine at the current moment.

However, lying on his bed, he finished his magazine and felt no more enlightened. In fact he felt confused. First their were metals…gold, silver, white gold, platinum, different alloys…then their were diamonds of all different sizes and carrots and shapes. He had no clue what Rory would like. Well, he had a clue, but it had to be _perfect._ It couldn't be just any ring.

The biggest problem was that he had no one to help him. First of all, Matt and Chris had no idea about jewelry shopping and he was not going to let them in on this experience to ruin it. They'd probably just goad him until they got bored anyway.

Seeing as he didn't really have anymore friends his options were limited. Lorelai would have been the optimum choice, but he knew she would let the secret slip to Rory. And he really didn't want Lorelai to know he was proposing, the least amount of people was best. Didn't want to get anyone's expectations up…, especially his own.

An annoyingly ringing cell phone interrupted his troubles. He picked it up on instinct and flipped it open without looking at the number. He cursed himself for such a foolish action, knowing that if it were Rory on the line he'd have trouble coming up with a le if she asked what he was doing.

"Hello?"

"…Jess…?" said a sad, familiar woman's voice that he couldn't quite place.

"Who is this?" he asked.

"It's, um, it's Sasha."

Jess's hand gripped the phone unconsciously tighter. Neither had heard from each other in a long time. They lived on a bad news only philosophy.

"What's wrong?" he immediately asked.

"It's…," she began slowly, with pain in her tone, "Jimmy. He was in an accident. He's in the hospital…" she trailed off and Jess suspected the woman was fighting back tears.

"Sasha, how bad is it?" he asked with an almost hollow voice.

"Bad," she returned, "They say— They say he might not make it."

"God," she swore quietly to himself, pacing the room.

"I know when you left you two were on bad terms, but I thought you had the right to know. You—You don't have to come or anything. I just thought…"

"I'd want to know," he finished for her.

"Yeah. Well…I've gotta go. Lily's waiting for me."

"Yeah, um, bye."

"Bye."

Jess never talked about it, not even with Rory. He never discussed his year in California with his father. They fought like mad. They clashed over everything expect maybe music. He ended up being much closer to Sasha and Lily than to his father. After he left California he hadn't talked to his father since. Sasha called once in a blue moon to report on significant happenings, Lily called about once every two months or so.

Despite his complete lack of relationship with his father he felt horrible. Suddenly, his problem with finding Rory a ring seemed totally insignificant. How could take be important when Jimmy might die?

He was so confused at the moment. Part of him hated the man…but that didn't mean he wanted him dead. At the same time this man was really nothing to him, should care if something happens to him? This man didn't care what happened to him for eighteen years. And a third, small, but persisting part of him kept saying, "But he's your father. He's your father."

Putting his head in his hands, he groaned. A million emotions washed over him at once. His chest felt like exploding from the fire of anger and hate, the pain of sadness and nervousness, the cold indifference, the ultimate confusion.

Things weren't supposed to be like this.

His phone rang again. He picked it up.

"Hello?" he croaked.

"Jess?" It was Rory, she sounded concerned.

"Hey," he said, after clearing his voice.

"Are you alright?" she asked immediately, wary of his sad tone.

"Fine," he returned. He was surprised how easy it was to lie, but he had had a lot of practice in his youth.

"Are you sure?" she questioned.

"I said I'm fine," he said with an unintentional sharp edge in his tone.

"Okay, sorry," Rory said defensively and evasively. She knew Jess had a short –temper at times and when those times came she knew where to draw the line at badgering him. And hell, it was probably just work stress or something. She should tell Chris to lay off him for a while. She preferred her boyfriend calm and nice.

"You called for something?" Jess questioned in a forced nice voice, turning the conversation away from him.

"Oh, right. I just wanted to make sure we were still on for tomorrow night?"

"Of course, you got the tickets?"

"Well, Mom has them. I'm picking them up tonight. Actually, I'm staying the night."

"Do you want me to pick you up from there?" he asked absently, his mind still on his father.

"No, it's too out of the way. I'll meet you there. In the parking lot."

"Okay, I'll be there."  
"At seven sharp."

"I promise."

"Don't forget. I'll never forgive you.

"Don't worry," reassured Jess, "I won't."

If he had only known how wrong he would be.

After a long pause Rory asked, "Are you sure everything is alright."

"Yeah," replied Jess, trying to sound positive.

Biting her lip, Rory held back a retort. She was familiar with Jess' monosyllabic answers, his blunt remarks, but there was something missing from him. Usually they were jokes, vague references to rock bands, a sarcastic comment or two. They were all missing.

"Okay, bye."

"Bye Rory."

Jess set down the phone and went to pacing his room again. He was interrupted ten minutes later by an excited Matt, who was proudly displaying the first copy of the second-edition printing of _The Subsect. _"We still have like a million more to go…" he had added with a slight disappointment that the work was far from over.

Jess observed the book he now held in his hands. The shiny black cover, the embossed title, and when he flipped it open his dedication proposal. After several minutes of staring he tossed the book carelessly onto his bed.

Some things would have to wait.


	14. Chapter 14: Moments

**Aki-** My goodness, It took so long for me to get this up… Well, it's along chapter and it is the last… Sorry, but there is going to be nothing more after this. It is a satisfying ending and I couldn't continue even if I tried because I have not been in Gilmore Girl mood lately, but I would not leave this uncompleted.

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**Moment **

This wasn't the worst time in his life, but it was definitely in the top ten. He couldn't, no matter how hard he tried, get Jimmy out of his mind. He hadn't slept well the night before, having been plagued my insomnia. Matt and Chris realized something was wrong and told him to take the day off. Jess shouldn't have taken them up on it, he would have preferred to have work fill his mind rather than…_other _things.

Some unfamiliar, unidentifiable emotion gnawed at his very being, at his heart, at his mind, at his conscience. Regret, maybe, shame, torment. The fact that he left things so poorly with Jimmy, all the mean things he said to him. The fact that he hadn't talked to him since, because part of him knew he should go and see him…because it owed it to Sahsa and Lily and Jimmy, even himself.

But he couldn't, he couldn't! He was still too mad, too petty, too…he didn't know what. He wasn't ready to face the truth, that his father, no matter how lousy he had been at the job, might die.

His cell phone ringing interrupted him from his brooding in a secluded coffee shop where the waitresses kept casting him dirty looks because he had been there for over an hour and a half and had only ordered one thing.

"Hello?" he asked quietly and sluggishly, not feeling like talking.

"Jess…"

"Sasha!" exclaimed Jess, his demeanor changing swiftly from mopey to attentive and nervous.

"He's okay," the woman on the other end said with a sigh. She sounded if she was crying in relief. "He made it through the night. He's gonna be okay."

"Are-are you sure?" stuttered Jess in disbelief. "Did the doctors say so…?"

"They did. I mean he has about million broken bones, and a concussion, and a collapsed lung, but they stopped all the bleeding and he's conscious now…"

"Really?" asked jess, relief spreading throughout his body.

"Yeah, except the first time he woke this morning he was so full of drugs he didn't know what was going on. It would have been really funny if it hadn't been so serious. There was some total blackmail material in that interaction…"

"Well I hope you got it taped. It'll never do well to miss a chance at blackmail." Jess was surprised how easily he could joke at the moment.

"But, when he came more, well, lucid," replied Sasha, her tone becoming more serious, "He said he…he said he wanted to see you."

"See me?" asked Jess, shocked.

"You know how people are you just survived life-threatening accidents…"

"This my first experience but I understand the concept."

"He really wants to see you, Jess."

Jess sighed in frustration. "He'll probably change his mind once he's out of the hospital. The meds must be making him loopy.

"Jess," implored Sasha in one of her rare reprimanding tones.

"I— can't."

"He's your father. You at least owe him one visit. Think about it."

Jess couldn't find a reply so he hung up without saying good bye and promptly turned off his phone so she wouldn't try to call him again.

He rested his head in his hands, the joy and relief he felt just a few moments ago having quickly evaporated…

…

It was late that night that when Jess walked back into Truchean Books, cold, tired, and emotionally exhausted.

"Man, where have you been?" asked Chris, who was organizing the book shelves as his friend entered.

"You gave me the day off, or don't you remember?"

"I remember, but your girlfriend called here looking for you. Apparently she couldn't get through to your cell phone…Hey, wait! Where are you going?"

"Shit, shit, shit," Jess swore under his voice as he ran out to his car and started the engine. There was no point going to the concert by this time. Jess drove as fast as he could to the apartment Rory shared with Paris.

It was not until two hours later, when he pulled into a screeching stop at the apartment building that he noticed his satchel had spilled over the passengers seat. His notebooks, pens, papers of unfinished manuscripts spalled lazy about the seat from his wild driving. On top was his copy of _The Subsect._ For some reason, after driving twenty above the speed limit to get here, he took the time to put all of his items back into the satchel. In his mind it was a rather clever delaying tactic.

Resigned to his fate, he made his way up two flights of stairs and knocked on the apartment door. It opened just a crack a few moments later.

"Oh, it's you," said Paris venomously and Jess got the distinct impression that Rory must have told her how he had stood her up. She closed the door to undo the chain lock before opening it and glaring at him with a hand on her hip.

"Can I talk to Rory?" he asked seeing as Paris was not going to give him the break and let him in without him having to ask.

"Rory," she shouted, taking step back from the door, but Jess' didn't enter. "Your," Paris paused and glanced at him as if trying to come up with the appropriate word to describe him, but ended up just saying very vindictively, "_Boyfriend_ is here to see you." Jess was starting to hope that Paris had taken his missed date more personally than Rory did.

Speaking of Rory, she took this moment to come out of her bedroom dressed in a white tank top and pajama bottoms. "Finally decided to show up," she said in a voice of sadness, anger, and resignation that made Jess' guilt intensify tenfold.

Paris opened her mouth as to make a smartass comment, but Rory waved her off. "I can handle this, go back to bed."

Paris promptly closed her mouth and shrugged as if to say, 'your lose.'

Jess waited until Paris closed her bedroom door behind before talking. "Rory," he started, but she raised her hand to cut him off.

"Don't."

"But, I want to say I'm—"

"Sorry?" she finished for him.

"Yeah…"

Rory crossed her arm across her chest in a protective rather than angry gesture. "Where were you?" she asked softly. "I kept calling you but your cell phone was off and Chris said you were out."

Jess ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Something came up and the concert totally slipped my mind."

"Yeah, I figured that once everyone started coming out…"

"What do you mean? You didn't go into the concert at all?" asked Jess, slightly stunned.

"I was waiting for you!" Jess couldn't explain was he was so moved when she said that. "I had your ticket."

"You really could have gone in without me. I feel horrible that I made you miss the band. I know you were really looking forward to it."

"I could care less about missing the band!," Rory reprimanded, "I wanted to spend tonight with you."

"I know, but I'll make it up to you. We have tons of other nights we can spend together!" Jess quickly defended.

"But I wanted to spend _tonight_ with you…did you…," she sighed. "I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want you to think you had to do anything special, but…its our sixth month anniversary since we became a couple again. I didn't say anything because it felt like a stupid, high school kind of anniversary thing…"

Jess could see that Rory was trying hard not to be angry at him, to yell at him. He wasn't sure if he appreciated it or not. Some of is guilt would have been eased of she was raging at him right now, rather then looking so pitiful and sad.

"Where were you?" said Rory.

"It just slipped out of my mind—"

"That not an answer to the question I asked," retorted Rory with more edge than before. "What happened?"

"What'd you mean?"

"What do I mean!? I mean today and on the phone yesterday. Something is wrong! What is it?"

"Nothing, Rory! Just leave it alone," Jess snapped back in a much rougher tone than he had anticipated leaving his mouth.

She looked at him, taken back, wide-eyed for half a second before mouthing quickly, "Why are acting like…" She cut herself off.

"Why am I acting like what?" Jess asked, his own anger boiling just under the surface, anticipating what she was going to say.

All inhibitions lost Rory snapped back, "Why are acting like you did when you were seventeen!"

Silence hung between them. For the briefest moment Jess wondered what Rory must have been thinking as she had waited for him at the concert. He could almost imagine her sitting alone on the hood of the car in a vacant parking lot, a dull song of music drifting from the concert hall behind her. Even though only a few weeks after their new relationship had started she had professed in front of the entire town that she had loved him and he was changed man, did some tiny part of her she dare not voice aloud doubt him still? As she sat alone in the darkening hours of the evening, was her only company that of the memories of the too many stood-up dates, of the times he disappeared with a warning? Was that what the teary look in her baby blue eyes was now, behind her mask of anger?

These revelations did not stop him from his bitter remark.

"I'm the same person I was when I was seventeen."

"No, you're not!" Rory spoke loudly, flushed with aggravation, but suddenly sank back, "Or maybe you are."

That's not the response Jess expected. "Wha…?"

Rory laughed lightly to herself before speaking so quietly and staring at the floor as she did so it was if she regretted every word. "Our relationship started out great back then too. But after a while everything changed…"

"Rory, wait,…no."

The dejected girl looked him in the eyes. "I don't want to be in that place again. The place where you miss dates, and don't talk to me, and hide things, and take stuff out on me when something's wrong and there is! Don't deny it. I'm your girlfriend and I care about you. I love you! And I want to help you when something goes bad. I can't when you never let me. I can't when you push me away…" Rory sniffled, tears glistening, unfallen, in her eyes.

"Rory…" Jess said, almost pleading.

"No, Jess. No. I can't take this anymore. Look," She glanced back into her apartment, arms still crossed across her chest defensively, refusing to meet his eyes, "I have a class tomorrow morning and I really need to get some sleep and…" Her breathing hitched. "I _really _can't do this right now…Go home, you should go home and…" Rory bit back a sob. "Call me if you ever decide to grow up again…"

"Fine," he said bitterly, backing up half a pace into the hallway.

Rory stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before resigning and closing the door and slowly locking its many locks. Jess stormed down two flights of stairs and to his car.

He slammed his car down closed behind him with much more force than necessary. He went to the start the engine, but his hands were shaking so much he dropped the keys onto the floor. He leaned down to scoop them up, but on his way back up to his seat he caught sight of something that made him pause: A corner of _The Subsect_ poking out of the satchel on the passengers seat. Like water onto flame, his anger quelled.

He hesitantly took the book and pulled out of the bag and held it in front of him. After a moment's pause he slowly flipped open the front cover and read the words he knew were printed inside. Suddenly, he dropped the novel onto his lap, grasped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white and bowed his head onto the top of the wheel. Submission and desperation.

One minute…five…ten…he wasn't quite sure howling he sat in that position, fighting back tears, because he was too proud to do such. But sometime later he got out of the car and walked straight back into Rory's apartment building. He wasn't running away this time.

He knocked on the apartment door roughly. "Rory, Rory," he called, pausing every few seconds to wait for a response, none came. Sighing in resignation, Jess turned around and slid down the door to sit on the floor. She was either asleep or was refusing to answer his calls. He banged his head against the door three times in frustration. It was almost a good thing Rory didn't answer the door, he had no clue what to say.

"So," Jess said to himself, his voice resounding in the empty hallway. "This is so stupid. What am I going to do, sit here until morning…?" He paused as though waiting for someone to answer him. "I guess I am," he replied to himself, some unknown resolve hardening in himself despite how uncool this was.

"I don't know what to do," he said aloud, fingering his copy of _The Subsect_ that he hadn't realized he had brought up from the car. "Look," he said, staring at the book as if he were talking to his currently estranged girlfriend. "I'm sorry. And I know that means nothing with as many times as I've said it or needed to say it…

"I shouldn't have forgot tonight's concert or exploded at you, but you're right there is something wrong. I don't know why it is so hard to tell you. I trust you, Rory, I really do. It's just—I'm not used to people wanting to listen to my problem's. I'm good at dealing with stuff on my own, or at least I think I am. I guess not so much as I always take it out on the people I care about.

"Back to the point. Jimmy—my dad, he was in a bad car accident the other day. They—they didn't think he was going to live. _He is_— now, but for a while…and I was worried about him, or about me, I'm not sure. I never talked about it with, well, anyone, but we never got along and I left California after we had a big fight. We haven't talked since, and now he wants to see me…"

Jess sighed. "I don't know what else to say…I just want you to know that I don't want to be the me that I was when I was a teenager. Because…because I'm tired of looking back on my life and not liking what I see. I _have_ changed, but I'm not perfect. Not yet, probably not ever. But I've changed enough to know that this time it's not good enough to walk away and hope you'll came back to me. I'm not gonna do that. I_'_ve got to prove to you that I am serious about us."  
Jess fingered the book in has hand before flipping open the first page. "You know how _The Susbsect _is being reprinted….? Well, I added a dedication to it. To you, if you hadn't guessed by the course of this rather strange, one-sided conversation. Do you want to know what it says? I'll read it. '_To Rory, You may never know all that you've done for me, but you did this. You believed in me when I saw nothing worth believing in. I have no words to tell you how thankful I am that you are in my life, except these…Will you marry me…?' _"

The silence in the hallway never seemed so solid before. He bit his lower lip, a nervous habit he must have picked up from Rory.

A single thought ran through his head. 'I wish I had the nerve to say this all again in the morning when she is actually listening.'

A second later Jess heard the locks on the door slowly being opened. He tensed, imagining Paris coming and yelling at him to go away.

"God, I don't think I've ever heard you talk so much in my life…"

That voice wasn't Paris's. He arched his neck to see…

"Rory," he said, stumbling as he tried to get onto his feet. Before he could, however, Rory launched herself at him, knocking to the ground, arms around his neck.

"Yes, yes an absolute, million times yes…"

It took the frazzled boy a moment to figure out what his girlfriend was talking about…

"Did you…?"

"Every word."

"I didn't mean to do it like this…not so soon, or after a fight…and I was supposed to have a ring…."

Rory pushed herself up off the ground, allowing Jess to get into a proper sitting position. She picked up the discarded copy of _The Subset_ off the floor next to them and read the dedication swiftly.

"That's okay," she said, looking up to meet Jess' eyes. You're all I need.

And Jess kissed her, but there is nothing quite else that is appropriate at a moment like this. It was amazing that one little request, 'stay,' could change their lives.

Of course, they hadn't calculated that telling everyone of their engagement would be quite the same as had been telling them of their relationship. The next morning Paris seemed a little frustrated at the couple's swinging change and now engagement. It seemed that he had preferred being mad at Jess rather then dealing with the couple's lovey-dovey-ness. Lorelai and Luke were a little baffled, but happy for them nonetheless. Liz was ecstatic above all measures. Emily had looked distinctly sick at the news, with Richard' completely oblivious to his wife's discontent. About a month later Jess took Rory to California with him to see his father…

And the town…well, they were just going to have to deal with it.


End file.
